Privacy Policy

Data Controller

Information Commissioner's Office

Collected Personal Data 

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR ) Information about you. 

In order for me to be able to fulfil my responsibilities as a counsellor I will need to record personal information about you. This information includes your name and contact details. Under an identifying code I may take notes of your personal, social, and family history that you choose to share with me. This information will be retained in separate locations (keeping your name and contact details apart from the assessment notes) in password protected files, on a password protected PC which has virus protection software installed. 

Your contact details will be used to contact you. This will be done via phone/text or email. 

This personal information will be held for a period of three years after the cessation of our counselling relationship, except where there is a mutually agreed decision to retain it for longer or where I believe that it is in my best professional interests to do so. 

Your contact details alone will be shared in exceptional circumstances with my supervisor in the event that I am incapacitated so that they can contact you to explain the situation. The details of this arrangement are set out in my professional will. 

Information about counselling sessions and our work together 

Also I will record notes of each therapy session under an identifying code. These notes will be brief factual record of the session. This set of notes will include any agreements made with regard to for example, cancelled sessions or changes to the way the therapy is conducted. The notes are held in a password-protected file on my computer. 

These notes may be shared under the identifying code with my supervisor, counselling professional body or similar for purposes of maintaining professional standards. 

These notes will be held for a period of three years after the cessation of counselling except where I agree with you to retain them for longer or where I believe that it is in my best professional interests to do so. 

I may make information from these notes available to legitimate third parties under the following conditions: 

Where there is a specific legal requirement for me to do so. 

Where there is an ethical duty for me to do, for example to avoid serious harm to yourself or another person, including the safeguarding of children or vulnerable adults. 

Records of contact between us 

I will hold your name and telephone number on my mobile phone until our counselling relationship ends and then I will delete it from my contact list. However, the phone will retain summary records of calls made to or from your number (date and duration) and any recorded messages for three years. 

If we agree to communicate by text or by email, these records may be kept for the same duration as your counselling notes. My mobile phone is a smart phone and could therefore also have your texts, and email and email address available on it. The phone is password protected and details are stored in ‘the cloud’ so they can be restored if my phone is lost or stolen. 

Your Rights 

You have the right to ask to see any information held by me about you. To do this please either ask me or submit a request by writing. You also have the right to ask for information that you believe to be incorrect to be rectified. I will endeavor to provide you with the information requested within four weeks. 

If I become aware of a situation where your personal information may have accidently or maliciously been obtained by a third party, I will notify you within three days. 

If you are concerned about the way that your information is being held, please discuss this with me. If you are still unhappy you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioners Office. My data protection registration number with the Information Commissioner is ZB664474